Advice needed with my Visa please......

I'm new to this wonderful site and would like to start off by asking for some advice if thats not too cheeky

The thing is I have a full Australian Permenant Resident visa and need some things cleared up, please bare with me.

1. I've been told that the Australian visa is valid for NZ, is that the case?

2. It was issued in 2004 (1st entry within 12 months which I did) and expires in 2009. It states must not arrive after 24 March 09/Muliple travel/holder permitted to remain indefinitely etc. My question is, must I arrive before that date and not leave again before the end of the period when I would be eligible for Citizenship?

3. Is there anyway to extend this period or apply for some kind of renewal visa?
4. How long is the citizenship qualifying period?

I went to Australia and although its a nice place it didn't feel like a place I wanted to settle. Its very hot and pretty much a beach culture as far as I can see and I love rugged coast-lines, mountains and seasons, hence my re-think towards NZ.

I'm not exactly ready for moving as I've just bought a house so my plans are all up in the air, just need to find out what options are.

I'm sure theres lots more questions I need answering but any help with the above points would be much appreciated.

Do you need to Apply for Residence?
Under the Immigration Act 1987, some people do not have to apply for residence to live in New Zealand. They include:

New Zealand citizens, who must show a valid New Zealand passport on entering New Zealand;
Australian citizens, who must show a valid Australian passport on entering New Zealand.
Australian permanent residents entering New Zealand with a current Australian resident return visa will be granted a residence permit on arrival. Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents are subject to section of the Immigration Act 1987, which relates to good character.

I wondered if the 2009 deadline was when you could apply for what in NZ is called the Indefinite Returning Residents Visa. In NZ you get this after living there with PR for at least 6 months in each of the 2 years after taking up residence and it means, once you have it, you can stay out of the country for a long time without having to worry about renewing your RRV or losing residency. In Oz it appears to be 5 years. However, I can't see anything that says you can leave the country for as long as you like without losing your OZ residency, which is odd. I can see the terms 'Returning Residents' Visa and also 'Permanent RRV', but nowhere can I can that the latter doesn't have to be renewed every 5 years. Seems a funny system, to me unless I'm missing something .

If you do have to renew every 5 years perhaps it would be better to wait until you've just renewed and then go to NZ. It may be that you can keep renewing the RRV every 5 years. At least Oz isn't too far to travel back if you have to be in the country to apply.

Some reading:

About the RRV .Visas and Immigration.
In here they seem to impose conditions about how long you can leave Oz for.Australian Citizenship. If people became permanent residents before 1 July 2007 and apply before 30 June 2010, they must have been physically present in Australia as a permanent resident for a total of two years in the five years before applying, including one year in the two years before applying.

Dear me, I thought the INZ site was confusing, but I've got a headache now from wandering around the Oz one . I hope all this might be of some help to you, but it's confused the hell out of me .

Thanks for those replies but silly of me I forgot to point out that I'm still living in the UK and never stayed in Australia cos it wasn't right for me.

The short story goes that while researching the OZ visa I could see I qualified but would soon not do as they were about to increase the points needed in my class. So I applied for it even though I wasn't sure it was for me but wanted to keep my options open for the future.

The expiry of my visa didn't matter until recently when I started looking at NZ which seems to suit me alot more.

You're a Brit who went to Australia to activate his Oz PR, but didn't stay and, instead, returned to the UK? If that was in 2004 (or maybe 2005?) and you haven't been back since, that's stretching it a bit to get another RRV granted in March next year. I'm not familiar with Australian immigration policies and don't want to get too involved in them, as I have enough trouble trying to remember all the NZ stuff and would only end up confusing the two. I also don't have any idea how long you stayed in Oz before you left again. I was hoping you'd read through the links I posted and come up with some answers that are relevant to your particular circumstances.

If Oz is anything like NZ, you'd have to show commitment by staying in the country for a specified amount of time over a certain period before being allowed another RRV. You might find you would only get a 3-month visa next time. Having PR isn't like being granted citizenship, it can be taken off you if immigration feel you aren't committed to staying in their country.

You will be eligible for a 3 month Resident Return Visa, if:

you have been residing in Australia for less than 2 out of the last 5 years as a permanent resident
you have valid reasons for leaving Australia for any periods of more than 3 months (eg: for compassionate leave).

I would say that you would have to go back to Australia before March 2009 when your RRV expires and the idea would be that you would apply for another one. If you have been out of Oz for a long time, the question would be whether immigration would grant you another one.

What does this visa let me do?
This visa allows you to leave and enter Australia as often as you want, within the validity period of the visa, while maintaining your status as a permanent resident.

Regarding citizenship, have you been in Oz for 2 years out of the 5 and 1 year in either of the 2 years before you would apply for it (as quoted in my post above)? If not, then you can forget about applying as, I'm afraid, you won't qualify.

I know INZ have a contact email address where you can ask questions. If the Oz immigration site also has one, I suggest you clear things with them so you know exactly how you stand.

I have removed your other duplicate thread on the same subject as it wasn't necessary. I guess the lack of response to your query is more down to no one else having found themselves in the same situation as yourself rather than they haven't seen your post.

I did read through that link but was looking for a second opinion as it does seem I will have to apply for an NZ visa once my OZ visa expires.

Just to clarify, I don't want to apply for another OZ visa I only wanted to use my existing one to gain entry to NZ as I've changed my mind on settling in OZ.

Thanks for the advice but it seems unless I can get to NZ before March then I will have to apply all over again from scratch as I haven't spent enough time in OZ to qualify for a RRV as you pointed out.

I would have travelled to NZ by now but I bought a house at the beginning of the year, its a nice house and a good investment but it ties me down. Unless I was to let it out of course!

Forgot to say, I'm single but it still feels like a big commitment to move abroad when I'm not sure its what I want! Reading this site helps but with the way the economy is here and in NZ its a worry.

If you're still not sure that moving abroad is what you want, then I'd definitely recommend renting out your house. If things don't work out, you will, at least, having something to come back to. If things do work out and you want to stay in NZ, you could always sell later.

If you don't want to renew your Oz RRV then, as you say, you would need to get into NZ before March. You're in the fortunate position of only having yourself to worry about, which makes you more flexible in your decisions and movements. It would be a different matter if you had schooling etc. to worry about.